Steam-boiler.



N0. 635,923. Patented 00f. 3|, I899.

J. T. FANNING.

STEAM BOILER.

(Application filed Die. 9, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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TH: scams Perms co mow Lmw VIASN nurou u c to the units shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE,

JOHN T. FANNING, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

STEAM-BOILER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 635,923, dated October 31, 1899.

Application filed December 9, 1898. Serial No. 698,695. (No'modelJ T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,JQHN T. FANNING, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Minneapolis, inthe county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steam- Boilers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of steamgenerators containing an internal fire-box and having fire-tubes leading therefrom, and has for its object an improved circulation of water within the boiler past the fire-box and firetubes.

The invention consists generally in the combination, with a fire-box boiler provided with an annular generating-chamber and a waterdistribution chamber connected with the base of the generating-chamber, of a water-gathering chamber surrounding the central parts of the heights of the tubes and circulationpipes connecting said gathering-chamber with said distribution-chamber.

The invention consists, further, in inclined annular disks arranged upon the outer surfaces of the fire-tubes for the purpose of defleeting the tube-enveloping current of steam away from the tubes and giving to the Water circulation past the tubes a spirally-upward movement, crossing the tubes, and thus adding to the generating efliciency of the tubes.

The invention consists, further, in the constructions and combinations hereinafter declaims.

of this specification, Figure 1 is a vertical sec:

units of the boiler. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sec tion through four units of the boiler, in part above the fire-box on line a: a: and'in part below the grate on line y 'y of Fig. 1. Fig; 3 is ahorizontal section through a boiler made up as a complete unit, but otherwise similar Fig. 4 is a perspective View of one of the disks D shown on the fire-tubes in Fig. 1.

In a fire-box boiler, Fig. 1, as usually constructed, having its fire-box J surrounded by an annular water-space h, the fire-box well i is subject to the intense direct heat of the fire, and steam is formed more rapidly in the annular space surrounding this fire-box wall than in any other part of the boiler except near portions of the crown-sheet. The steam formed in the annular space h must escape in an upward direction toward the steam-chamber 41 at the top of the boiler, and the rising steam tends to carry upward with itself the water of the annular space h, and this upward movement tends to prevent a downward return flow of water in the same space to replace the water converted into steam.

In my improved boiler I construct an annular water-distribution chamber A beneath the annular chamber and preferably below the level of the grate k, and connect this distribution-chamber A with the base of the annular space h, so as to supply the space It uniformly with water from below as rapidly as water may be required for conversion into steam. This arrangement permits a free upward circulation of water and steam in the space h, surrounding the fire-box J. I form the distribution-chamber A, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, preferably by extending the annular space around the fire-box downward below the level of the grate until it has capacity to distribute the water uniformly to the annular space It opposite to the fire, or by otherwise connectin g the distribution-chamber A with the base of the water-space h, so as to supply the lat ter with a full circulation of water from be-- low the level of the grate. The distributionf chamber A is supplied with water from the scribed, and particularly pointed out in the gathering-chamber above by exterior pipes or means other than flow downward through In the accompanying drawings,formin g part Q the fire-box J. tion through the centers of two-of several l the annular water-space h, which surrounds In a fire-box vertical boiler, Fig. 1, the heating-surfaces in all parts of the boiler that are generating steam are influencing an upward 3 flow of steam and Water adjacent to those surfaces. cumulation of water at the top of the boiler,

There is thus a tendency to an acand the return circulation to the base of the ,boiler has heretofore been retarded by the upward flow of both steam and water.

y improvement includes a water gathering chamber 0, combined with circulation-pipes B, B and B, Figs. 1, 2, and 8, adapted to return water freely-frornthe water-gathering chamber in the boiler to the distributionchamber A below the boiler, from whence it,

with the feed-water, is distributed as circulation may require into the base of the annular generation-chamber h, from .whence it circulates upward along the heating-surfaces as the generation of steam may demand. The return-water-circulation pipes B, Fig. 3, and B, B and B, Figs. 1 and 2, are preferably attached to the outside of the exterior boilershell and project into the watergathering chamber above and below the fire-box J. They are one or more in number and are proportioned so as to give an adequate circulation of water and are supplied with nipples, elbows, bends, and unions for ready connections and to meet expansions and contractions with varying temperatures of the metals of boilers and pipes.

In a compound boiler, Figs. 1 and 2, two or more units may be grouped about one large combined mud-drum, steam-drum, and return-pipe 13 which d'rum may be connected with each boiler unit and be a common return-pipe for the several units. In the latter case the base a of the large return-pipe B is adapted to serve as a common mud-drum for the several boiler units having circulation downward through it, and the top 2' of the same enlarged return-pipe B is adapted to serve as a common steam-drum and waterseparator. In my improved boiler I place a cylindrical thin diaphragm C and flange f to form an annular water-gathering space 0 adjacent to a portion of the inner surface of the upper part of the boiler-shell. This annular water-space c, which is open at the top for the free flow of water from the water-space I in the upper part of the boiler, facilitates the flow of the uppermost portion of the waterin the space I to the tops of the circulation-pipes 3, B and B, Figs. 1 and 2. A metallic deflection-ring f, Fig. 1, is placed just below the lower edge of the diaphragm to obstruct in part a free flow of water out from or into the lower edge of the annular space 0, surrounding the diaphragm C. The diaphragm O is preferably constructed of a plate of thin metal and supported upon the ring f, forming the base of the chamber a.

In boilers having vertical fire-tubes z 2, Figs. 1, 8, and 4, the tubes are in a considerable part of their lengths exposed to the contact of flame and are in consequence eflicient generators of steam, and the lower portions of the fire-tubes give the most rapid generation. In such cases the steam generated near the bases of the tubes tends to follow upward and along and envelop the tubes, thus preventing free contact of water with the exteriors of the tubes and reducing their efficiencies and durability. In my improved boiler I remedy this defect by placing upon the firetubes .2 the annular inclined disks D D, Figs. 1 and l. The disks D are intended to deflect the tube-enveloping current of steam away from the tubes and to give to the water-circulation past the tubes a spirally-upward movement crossing the tubes,and thus add to the generating efficiency of the tubes. The

stop-valves in the branch pipes B B of the compound boiler, Figs. 1 and 2, give facility to cut off any one of the boiler units, so that it will be out of common use or can be fired and worked independently as a complete boiler, and in like manner two or more units may be cut oif or may be worked independently. When all the valves in the several branch pipes are open, the several similar boiler units work together as one complete whole having a complete water-circulating system.

The gathering-chambers 0, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, when combined with the pipes B B B, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, distribution-chambers A, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and disks D, Figs. 1 and 4, produce a new and improved circulation in fire-box vertical boilers eliminating opposing currents within the spaces It and I, Fig. l. The improved circulation produced is a circuit of the water starting from the feed and distribution-chamber A, Fig. 1, upward through the annular space 72.,surrounding the fire-box, then continuing spirally upward among the fire-tubes, deflected by the disks D to the top of the water-space I, then gathering in the annular space 0, adjacent to the exterior upper shell of the boiler, then backward through the return-pipes B, B and B to the distribution-chamber A, thus completing and then continuously repeating the rounds of the unevaporated water and successively supplying under the best conditions a new volume of Water to the generating-surfaces.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fire-box vertical boiler having a gen crating-chamber, h, and fire-tubes, .e', z, the plate 0, with flange f, concentric with and attached to the exterior boiler-shell, forming a water-gathering chamber, 0, in the upper part of the water-space, I, in combination with the circulating-pipes, B, B B, the water-distribution chamber A, and deflectors, D, D, when arranged relatively to the water-space, I, and to the steam-generating space, It, and tubes, .2, .2, as specified so as to cause a water circulation substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In a steam-generating apparatus comprising two or more vertical generators with internal fire-boxes inclosed by generatingchambers and having fire-tubes, a cylinder B serving for a steam-drum, a mud-drum and a circulating-pipe common to said generators, in combination with the pipes, B, B, connecting said generators with said cylinder and with the water-gathering chambers and the distributing-chambers of said generators, when arranged substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination, in a compound vertical boiler, with a series of boiler units, of a separate cylinder serving for a steam-drum, a mud-drum, and a circulator for all the units of the boiler, connecting-pipes B, B arranged between said cylinder and each of the boiler IIO units, and suitable stop-valves between said of said boilers may be cutoff from said cy1- 1o cylinder and said boiler units for the purpose inder, for the purpose set forth.

set forth. In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my f4. The combination, in a compound boiler, hand this 5th day of December, 1898.

o a cylinder serving fora steam-drum, a muddrum and circulator, a series of independent JOHN FANNING boilers, pipes connecting each of said boilers In presence ofwith said cylinder, and valves arranged in A. 0. PAUL,

said pipes by means of which any one or more M. C. NOONAN. 

